fear and hope

Most of us fear something, most of us grieve, most if us know what it is to be in pain, emotional and/or physical.  Hannah was in pain, the pain of not bearing a child, particularly a son. For Hannah, a child meant having a future. If she doesn’t have a son, when her husband dies, she will be at the mercy of the sons of the other wife, or a more distant male relative. Having a son meant life and security and hope for the future.

What is it that causes us fear and grief and pain today? For some of us that will be a relationship, a medical procedure,  or a disappointment about a new job.

Mark talks about rumours of war, we don’t need rumours, there are wars and violence in many places around the world. People fear terrorist activity and criminal behaviour. Politicians are good at playing the ‘fear card’ in any election, and any time the polls are going  against them. Fear of crime, fear of foreigners, fear of teenagers, fear of bikies, fear of financial doom.  Western society is very good at fear.

The reading from Samuel, where we hear about the pain and anguish of Hannah, is a reminder of our souls longing for connection with God. Hannah's prayer is a deep longing within her, a prayer without words, or at least audible words, a prayer that wells up from deep within her. So often our prayers are what we think they should be; our prayers can become lip service, rather than relationship with God.

A quote from Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century
“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” [UCC SAMUEL]

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

When we are in pain, when we grieve, when our life is held by fear, what happens to us. Most often, in these situations, people isolate themselves, we close ourselves off from others. Whether we literally lock ourselves away in a house or whether we just go into a shell, it is easier not to have to relate to other people, to new situations, and sometimes even to people we know well. It seems easier to cut ourselves off from the world and to deal with the potential for more pain.

Unfortunately sometimes this also means closing ourselves off from God. God knows about pain and fear and grief, but God is not held by these things and doesn't want us to be held and bound by them either. God, the giver of life, knows the diversity of emotions, the variety of experiences, the terror in the joy of being alive.

We are people who know God, and that means instead of holding everything inside ourselves we can pour it all out to God.

In Israel at the time of Jesus, the centre of life was the temple in Jerusalem. While the Romans had conquered Israel and were the governing body, the temple held a special place in the life of the people of Israel. The reading from Mark takes place as Jesus and his disciples have just walked out of the temple, and the disciples remark on the strength of the walls of the temple. In times of trouble people will often look to the church for help. While for many people a beautiful church building helps create a place where they sense the presence of God more easily, the building is not what can help ease our fears or hold our pain. Some buildings have that feeling of being prayed in so much that there really is something special about being in them. Churches, and other places that help us connect with God, are sanctuaries for us, sanctuaries that allow us to pour out all our worries and fears, and all our joys.

Hanna does bear a son, Samuel, and another of Hannah's prayers is recorded. This is a very different prayer to the first one. This is a prayer of joy, a prayer about God, to God. Theology is talking about God, prayer is speaking to God, prayer uses first person language. But this prayer is not only a prayer of joy at having a son, it is a prayer about a world turned upside down.

I had wondered about playing part of the song to you this morning the chorus of which is “it’s the end of the world as we know it”, I won't try and sing it for you. The gospel reading is one that has been used to try and predict the end times, but that isn't what it's about. It is about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, a place of great importance.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

Hannah's prayer is very much like the song of Mary that we will read in a few weeks, they both talk of a world turned upside down. A world where the poor will have food and the rich will be hungry.

It is the end of the world as we know it.

And that means the beginning of a new world.

What might this new world look like.

This morning we have baptised Callum and Rose, acknowledged how much God loves them and welcomed them into the Christian community. When I speak with people here who are in the 80s and 90s, they tell stories of how much the world has changed in their lifetime. I wonder what the world will be like when Callum and Rose are in their 80s. 

We can be fearful of the future, of the unknown, fearful of change; and we can allow that fear to keep us closed up within ourselves. We can allow fear and greed and anxiety to dominate our life and our choices. There is much in this world that we feel powerless about, poverty, wars, earthquakes and cyclones. There is even much in our local area that we feel powerless about: we fear violence if we go out at night, we are suspicious of groups of young people, we don't know who to trust. There are media reports of politicians and church leaders that cause us to question what is happening in our country.

God didn't create us to live in fear. God created us for love and for life, for freedom. We are created, known and named as God's daughters and sons.

We are called to live as the people of God, people known by God, people loved by God, people blessed by God.

It is the end of the world as we know it. A revolution of grace,  a new beginning for the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden;   a time for transformation.

Let us reflect on where God’s transforming work in our lives and the world.